Protector for pipes or conduit units.



P. MCILROY PROTECTOR FOR PIPES 0R CONDUIT UNITS.

APPUCATION FILED MAR. 4,1915.

1,165,427. Patented Dec.28,1915.

I Zz'f/ress es //2re/7Z'ar My present invention pertains to new and PETER MCILROY, 0F ALLISON PARK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ENAMELED METALS COMPANY, OF SHARPSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF lfENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

Application filed March 4, 1915. Serial No. 11,997.

To all whom it may concern? citizen of the United States, and a resident of Allison Park, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Protectors for Pipes or Conduit Units; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

useful improvements in protectors for the threaded terminals of pipe or conduit units.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a novel form of metallic protecting sleeve, which may ,be quickly positioned 'to' ensheath a fragile protecting sleeve, which is in direct engagement with the threads of the pipe.

An object of equal importance is to form on the metallic protecting sleeve a closure wall which will serve to seal the end of the conduit unit when the sleeve is applied thereto.

' Another object of my invention is to so form the metallic protecting sleeve that while it will thoroughly guard against injury to the fragile protector through contact with foreignobjects, and will be capable of being quickly and securely attached, it may nevertheless be removed with relative ease by screw driver, a pair of pliers, or any similar tool, such as workmen use while on a job.

The above and other incidental objects of a similar nature, which will be hereinafter more specifically disclosed, are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the claims, which .are-

appended hereto and form a. part of this application.

With reference to the drawings wherein there has been illustrated the preferred embodiment of this invention, as it .is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate c01'resp0nding parts Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of'a coated pipe'orconduit unit embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section; Fig. 8 shows the thread protector in longi tudinal cross-section; Fig. 4 is an end view of the protector; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section showing a modified protector applied to a conduit unit Fig. 6 is a detail section of the protector of Fig. 5; Figs. 7 and 8 are side views of other forms of the metallic protector.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings the metallic protecting sleeve is designated as an entirety by the numeral A, and it is applied to one terminal of the length of pipe 10 to embrace or ensheath the fragile protector 11 thereon. The protector 11 is of the type disclosed in my Letters Patent N 0. 1,120,731, dated December 15th, 1914, and is formed of paper, linen, pulp or'some similar material. These protectors are applied to pipes which are provided with an interior and exterior coating thereon, as at a, and are employed to keep the threads of the pipe clean duringsuch coating, transit and storage, such coated pipes being also provided with the coupling 6 on the other terminal of the pipe, and which is also coated with the pipe.

It has been found that in some instances, as when the fragile protectors are subject to rough handling in transit, that they become broken and fall away from the threads. \Vith the metallic protecting sleeve A, however, such an occurrence is'well guarded against, for as will be readily observed, the sleeve A not only protects the face of the fragile sleeve, but also the outer end thereof. Specifically the member A consists of the, annular body portion 13, the laterally extending annular flange 14, the inwardly directed flange 15, which extends at an obtuse angle to the member 14 and parallel to the member 13, and the closure wall 16 which extends at right angles to the member 13.

The member 15 is obtusely directed in order to assure the application of the protector in the proper manner to standard piping in which, as it is well known, the internal diameters of various pieces of the same external diameter vary.

An improvement function of the closure wall 16 is to seal the end of the pipe or conduit unit to which the protector is applied. Thus a conduit unit equipped with the member A is protected against injury to its threads and against the entrance of mud or dirt of any kind into its interior, and its coupling threads and its interior are further protected by the use of a removable closure the rolled edge 21.

In the modified form ,of the invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the body member 13 and flange 1-1 are rolled to form the annular beads'lS and 19 respectively. These beads thoroughly protect the end of the fragile protector to which the member A is applied, for an object encountered by either the side or end of the pipe will do little damage since the rings or beads will act as buffers.

The metallic protector or member A may be held in place, after being positioned on the protector 11, by forming indentations 21 in the flange 13 thereof as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 which take into the protector 11, and when it is desired to remove the metallic protector it is only necessary to use a tool in a slit 21 such as is shown in Fig. 4, or grasp the member 13 with a pair of pliers or the like and to pull off the protector in an obvious manner.

As shown in Fig. 3, the inner space defined by the members 13, 14 and 15 may be utilized as a receiving chamber for a ring buffer 17. This member 17 is formed preferably of cork or-paper, although any other material of the same general nature may be employed. It will be seen that by inserting the member 17 between the end of the pipe and the flange 14, the end thread of the pipe ed end and a fragile thread-protectingmem- A is thoroughly protected against injury in case the end of the pipe strikes or is struck by a foreignobject while in transit or stora e.

In reduction to practice, I have found that the form of my invention, illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description, as the preferred embodiment, is the most eflicient and practical; yet, realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary,

I- desire to emphasize the fact that various ininor changes in details of construction,

proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantagesof my inven tion, as definedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1. As a new article of manufacture, the combination with a conduit having a threadber associated with said threaded end, said thread-protecting member being adapted to be broken away from the threads of said end when the conduit is to be used, of a metallic protector associated with said thread-protecting member atthe side thereof remote from the threads.

2. As a. new article of manufacture, the combination with a conduit having a threaded end and a fragile thread-protecting member associated with said threaded end, said threadn'otecting member being adapted to be broken away from the threads of said end when the conduit is to be used, of a metallic cap covering the end of said thread-protect ing member, thereby to protect said member and close the end of the conduit.

3; As a new article of manufacture, the combination with a conduit having a threaded end and a fragile thread-protecting member associated with said threaded end, said thread-protecting member being adapted to be broken away from the threads of said end when the conduit is to be used, of a metallic protector associated with said thread-protecting member at the side thereof remote from the threads, said metallic protector being capable of easy removal from said mem- 4.-As a new article of manufacture, the

combination with a conduit having a thread red end and a fragile thread-protecting memthread-protecting member being adapted to e be broken away from the threads of said end when the conduit is to be used, of a metallic cap covering the end of said threadprot'ecting member, thereby to protect said member and close the end of the conduit, said cap having a central indented portion entering the end of the conduit, said cap being capable of easy removal from. said member.

6. An interiorly and exteriorly coated pipe or conduit unit provided with threads at its terminals, a coupling connected to one of said terminals and'provided with a closure member, a fragile thread protector on the other terminal, and a removable metallic cap associated with said thread protector for protecting the latter.

7. The herein described process of forming pipes or conduit units having threads at their terminals, consisting in the steps of applying a. protecting sleeve of soft material to one of said terminals, applying a protector of hard and thin material over said first named protector to close the end of the pipe or unit, and indenting said last named protector to permit the same to take into said first named protector to hold the second protector in place.

8. The herein described process of forming pipes or conduit units having threads at their terminals; consisting in the steps of applying a protecting sleeve of fragile soft material to one of said terminals, and applying a protector of hard and thin material over said protecting sleeve to close the end of the pipe or unit.

In testimony whereof, I the said PETER McILRoY have hereunto set my hand.

PETER MCILROY.

Witnesses J. N, CooKE, JOSEPHINE MACGILVRAY. 

